Wrench



D. C. BETTISON.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED 0m. 31. I921.

Patented June 13, 1922-.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

D. C: .BETTISON.

D. C. BETTISON.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED OCT.31|192I Patented June 13, 1922.

2 SHEETSQSHLET 2.

31mm: .D. C .BETTISON.

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PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID c. BETTISON, or OMAHAQNEBRASKA.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 13, 1922.

Application filed October 31, 1921. Serial No."5 11,678.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, DAVID C. Bn'rrrson, a citizen of the United States, and a res1- dent of Omaha, in the county of Douglas My invention relates particularly to solid or one-piece wrenches for use on square nuts. It is the object of my invention to provide a wrench of this class adapted to produce automatically aratchet-like action, or having means whereby in the use of the wrench it is merely necessary to move the handle reciprocatingly, oscillating the same about the axis of the bolt, in order to rotate the nut intermittently in one direction. The ratchet-action referred to is attained by the peculiar form and proportions of the wrench-jaws, which firmly engage the nut as the wrench is moved in one direction, while by movement in the opposite direction the nut is at once released and remains stationary, the aws sliding freely about the same until they are in position to engage the succeeding pair of nut-faces and grip the same to again advance the nut in the desired direction. More particular objects of my invention are to so form and proportion the wrench-jaws as to readily accommodate therein nuts having the usual variations from the standard or nominal size with which the wrench is intended for use; to so shape and proportion the jaws as to secure the immediate release of the nut at the beginning of the backward or idle stroke of the wrench; to so form and proportion the jaws as to secure a relatively large working surface thereon for engagement with the nut-faces, and so that moderate wear of the working-faces may occur without interfering with the operation of the wrench; and to so arrange the jaws relatively to the handle that duringthe forward or working stroke the force applied upon the handle will tend to holdthe head and jaws against the nut rather than to disengage the same therefrom or to permit slippage between the jaws and nut-faces.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1

is a side view of a wrench embodying myinvention, Fig. 2 is a front edge view of the same, Fig. 3 is a side view of the wrench-head, drawn on a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, and showing the relation-of the jaws to a nut of normal size, Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the relation of the jaws to the maximum and minimum sizes of nuts wh1ch may be held therein, and Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are side views showing successive relations of the jaws and a nut during the reverse or idle stroke of the wrench.

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention I provide a relatively long handle 8 which at its upper end is of circular crosssection and is conically tapered or gradually enlarged from said end toward the -main body. The main body of the handle is of substantially uniform thickness throughout, the front and rear edges being rounded,

the sides flat, and the width gradually in: creased from the conically tapered endportion toward the head 9. The latter is a bulbous enlargement in the plane of the fiat sides of the handle, the roundededges of the latter being continued aboutv the head nearly to the ends of the jaws. The rear jaw 10 is relatively short, the inner or working face 11 of said jaw being a plane surface of which the length is approxi mately three-sevenths of the length of one of the side-faces of the nut A with which the wrench is to be used. The end 12 of the throat or space between the jaws is also a plane-surface, which is at a right angle to the jaw-face'll, the angle as indicated in Fig. 3 being 270. The front jaw 13 is of about the same length as one side of the nut A, and at the inner side of said jaw, adjoining the end thereof, there is a planesurfaced working face 14 of which the length is substantially the same as that of the working face 11 of the rear jaw. From the end of said working face 14 the jaw is slightly hollowed or recessed to provide a clearance-space which extends to the 'uncture of the jaw with the end-face 12 of the throat. The hollowed or recessed faceportion 15 is slightly curved or arcuate, and throughout its length is spaced from the plane defined by extension or prolongation of the working-face inwardly of the throat to the end-surface 12. The form of the curved or recessed face 15 shown in the drawings provides the minimum clearance desirable for a proper operation of the wrench, and an increased clearance will not affect the operation thereof, but will front corner of the oversize nut A" extends the working face 11 is at a slightly greater,

angle, or about 33, to the handle 8; The angular difference between the faces 11 and ll is indicated at z in Fig. 3, wherein the line a isparallel with the face 14, and'the line b is in the extended plane of-the face 11.

The jaws are so proportioned that the nut A, of the normal sue for which the wrench is intended for use, will fit therein as shown in Fig. 3, in which-it will be noted that the working face 14 fits squarely against one side of the nut, while the opposite side of the nut is engaged :by the point or outermost edge ofthe face ll. It will also be seen that the. inner sideof the nut, which adjoins the face12, contacts with said face 12 only at that cornerof the nut which is adjacent to the face 11, and said inner side of the nut is at an angle to the face 12 the same as the angle between the jaw-faces 11 and 14. Referring to Fig. 4,-an.under-size nut is indicated by the dotted lines A, and an oversize nut A, is shown in full lines. It will be seen that the nut A fits squarely against the faces 11 and '12, while the front side of said nut, at thelower corner thereof, engages the working face 114:. With the oversize nut A, the upper and rear faces are engaged similarly to the normal nut A, the angle between the nut-faces and the faces 11 and 12 being slightly greater than with the normal sized nut L. The upper somewhat into the clearance-space rovided by the curved jaw-face 15, and the ront side of the nut is engaged by the corner formed at the juncture of the? face-portions 14 and 15. I

.' In the operation'of the wrench, after the nut is engaged by the jaws, as shown in Fig.

3, a. forward pull upon the wrench-handleexerted transversely to the axis thereof is'in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1, while the direction which the wrench-head would be required to move in order to becomedisengaged from the nut, is indicated by the arrow 03 in the same figure. Obviously, as the two directions differ by the angle m, or

about 120, there is no possibility of the wrench becoming-disengaged fro-m'th'e nut during the forward pull thereon.

Referring now to, Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the

operation ofthe wrench during the reverse .or idle stroke thereof will 'be clearly ap- While the front jaw swings clear of the nut, Further rearward as indicated in :Fig. 5. movement of the wrench bringsv the same into the relation to the nut shown inFig. 6,

at which" the corner at the juncture of the faces 14 and 15 passes the front corner of the nut. Thereafter the nutJis-engaged by the working face 14: of the front jaw and the end ofthe rear 'aw, and the upper corner of-the nut is no longer engaged with the end-face 12. The locus or path of said upper cornerof the nut, relative to the face 12, is indicated bythe dotted line 11 in Fig. 7,

from which it will be seen that slightly less' than one-half ofthe whole length of said face 12 is-utilized in the operation, and that the portion of the face 12 between its juncture with the curved face 15 and the oint of tangency of the line it therewith mig' t be,

hollowed, out or recessed, without afiecting the operation. That portion of the face 12 adjacent to the rear j aw-face 11, and extend- 1ng from said face 11 to the point of tangency on the line it, is essential, however, to 1 the proper operation of the wrench. The

said portion of the-face 12 forms, first, a.

stop or abutment which limits the entrance of the nut into the throat of the wrench; and, second, by the engagement of the upper corner of the nut with said surface, during the first portion of the reverse or-idle stroke of the wrench, the latter is' quickly lifted or moved outwardly from the axis of the nut, whereby to cause the front jaw 13 to swing clear from the front corner .of the nut in thel'shortest possible portion of the stroke. It will'be seen that, from the relative positionof thenut and wrench shown in Figl7, a slight further rearward movement of the wrench will bring the saineinto positionto'slip' down over the nut into the same relation thereto as shown in Fig. 3, from which the, forward-or working stroke may be made. 1

While I have shown'in-the drawings, and I have herein referred only to a wrench intended for use on nuts of one size, with such varlatlons from the standard or nominal size as are llkely to occur in commerclal practice,

it will be obvious that my invention may be embodiedin adouble-end wrench, having heads at each end of the handle, and with the jaws ofsaid heads proportioned for use on nuts. of two distinctly different sizes.

Now, having described my, invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wrench of the class described, comprising an integral handle and head, the latter having fixed jaws with spaced planesurfaced working faces convergent outwardly of the throat-space between them, one of said jaws of a length less than one-. half the length of the other, the latter jaw being of a length" approximately the width of the throat-space, the end of the throatspace adjacent to the shorter jawbeing a plane surface extending at a right angle to the working face of said jaw, the working face of the longer jaw extending from the end thereof less than half way tothe'end of the throatspace, and the remaining portion of the face of said jaw being recessed .to provide a clearance-space opposite the.

working face of the short jaw.

52. A wrench for square nuts, comprising a head having a long and a short jaw inte: gral therewith, said jaws spaced apart to form a throat-space between them, the short jaw having a plane-surfaced working face adjoining the end of said-throat-space, said end of the throat-space adjoining said jaw extending substantially at a right angle to said working face, the long jaw having a plane-surfaced working face spaced from the end of the throat-space and said jaw being recessed between 'saidworkzing face and the end of the throat-space to provide clearance between said portion of the jaw and the side -of a nut engaged by the working face of the jaw, and said plane surfaced working faces of the jaws being convergent outwardly of the throat-space.

I 3. A'one-piece ratchet-wrench for square nuts, comprising a handle and a head having a short jaw and a long jaw, said jaws spaced to provide a throat-space between' gaged with said working face of said jaw,

the working faces of the jaws converging outwardly of' the throat-space, and said workingfaces being disposed at an angle to the longitudinalaxis of the handle such that an actuating force exerted transversely to said axis of the handle and toward the long 'aw will tend to move the head toward a nut eld between the'jaws.

DAVID C. BETTISO'N. 

